Sharing Solace
by Libellule
Summary: Anubis muses on his relationship with Seiji. RyoSeijiAnubisQuote: It was a splinter in my heart, this imperfectly perceptible ache that traveled along the precious bond that connected our armors unlike any of the other yoroi.


Summary: Anubis muses on his relationship with Seiji. ryo/seiji/anubis  
Quote: It was a splinter in my heart, this imperfectly perceptible ache that traveled along the precious bond that connected our armors unlike any of the other yoroi.  
  
Disclaimer: Yoroiden Samurai Troopers does not belong to me.  
  
Warnings: This story contains hints of shonen ai, but it's still rated PG. It's nothing but a drabble, a ficlet, a stand alone short story.  
  
Sharing Solace  
by Libellule  
  
Seiji was upset today, I could tell.  
  
At first I didn't understand it as his distress, and sat thoroughly confused on the edge of my bed wondering where this emotion was coming from.  
  
It was a splinter in my heart, this imperfectly perceptible ache that traveled along the precious bond that connected our armors unlike any of the other yoroi.  
  
Two balances on a scale, we are anchored to each other through the nature of our armors, sometimes to my detriment, but usually to my secret joy.  
  
I walked to the window, staring out at the silvery moon, focusing on the imposing emotion. The moon had always reminded me of Seiji, a light with in my darkness. I stared at the waning crescent, frowning my discontent.  
  
I could not know what was the source of his upset, but I could hazard a guess.  
  
Ryo, that hot headed, impassioned lover of his was presumably the cause of Seiji's unwonted emotion. Not many things could provoke my stoic counterpart. I took immense pleasure in knowing that I was one of the few people who could get under Seiji's skin. However, I did not like it when anyone else did.  
  
Not knowing when I'd grown so possessive of him, I realized that my desire to protect him was as strong as it had been to destroy him all those years ago.  
  
Ryo and I had an immediated dislike of each other right away, though Seiji did his best to diffuse those rare occasions when we did meet. To Ryo, I am the embodiment of all Seiji's nightmare's, that the darkness within him stems from me.  
  
I must admit that that's not entirely untrue. As much as it saddens me that I have caused Seiji pain, I cannot regret our past. To do that would be to revoke the darkness, and I could never forsake my yoroi. Afterall, I did meet Seiji on the battlefield.  
  
As I peered up at the moon, I was reminded of an encounter not too long ago.  
  
I saw them together in the city a few months earlier.  
  
I hadn't really been paying attention, my thoughts still on the business meeting I'd just departed. My varied existences on the mortal plane had left me with quite a sum, and if there's one lesson I've learned throughout my centries old life, it's that land is timeless. I own a prime piece of real estate that I have managed for me while I am otherwise occupied.  
  
Suddenly his lingering presence was brought to the forefront of my mind, like hearing a choice strain of Mozart in the midst of afternoon traffic.  
  
Scanning the crowd, my eyes darted frantically among the people trying to seek him out. He was so damn close it was grating on my nerves that I could not place him instantly.  
  
Cutting through the marketplace, I felt his radiance like a sunspot, humming on the edge of my mind.  
  
I would never find him this way. I put my sunglasses on for privacy's sake, and closed my eyes, seeking his luminous shape in the spiritual realm. I let it pull me, attracted to his light like a moth to a flame.  
  
There. I knew if I opened my eyes I would see him. And when I did I was not disappointed.  
  
There he was in the flesh, bent over a produce barrel, sorting through apples. His blond hair was bit shorter than the last time I saw him, exposing his lovely line of neck, but it still swept into his face.  
  
I wondered what in the world he was doing in the market of all places, but as I was about to call to him, something held my voice in check.  
  
Ryo came up beside him, placing an arm around his waist. In his other hand, he held a bag from the butcherie, most likely getting some scraps for that white tiger of his.  
  
So that's why Seiji was here.  
  
Seiji simpered coyly as Ryo leaned in and gave a quick kiss to his cheek before searching through the marketplace for other items.  
  
Seiji's eyes were bright as he smiled, the gentle curve of his lips displaying a genuine depth of love.  
  
That smile was for Ryo.  
  
My chest hurt suddenly. Bitterness crept into my heart, tightening around it like a cold fist.  
  
I would never know such love from him.  
  
For all my attentions, he would never think on me as anything but his opponent. I feel such a pull, an attraction to him that I wonder how he cannot feel it.  
  
It was at that moment that I contemplated giving up Yami, something I'd rarely been tempted to do, severing the very thing that had sustained my longevity if only to cut the cruel tie that would bind me to him for the rest of my life.  
  
But then he straightened, looking up from the apples he was inspecting. Curse this link, he had felt my distress.  
  
I did not want him to see me. I could not bare to see the spark extinguished from his eyes when they gazed upon me.  
  
Like a coward, I ducked behind a stack of crates, hoping Seiji hadn't spotted my location. Oh what a recreant I was. Feeling shame in addition to my despair, I forced myself still, trying to hide myself and my emotions from him.  
  
Then something remarkable happened. I felt him approach me, not in the physical world, but along our armor link, advancing unfalteringly forth. Soothing waves of comfort enveloped me as he used Kourin like a balm to lull my suffering.  
  
I was astonished really. Discovery be damned, I peered out from my hiding place to watch him.  
  
His eyes were closed, and though his head was stooped I could see through his hair the Rei kanji burning green on his forehead.  
  
Seiji obviously knew I was closeby, but could not pinpoint my exact location. His care for me was genuine; I would have felt any pretense through the bond.  
  
Closing my eyes, I focused my energy on him, willingly accepting his warmth into my essence. How I reveled in it, wrapping my cold darkness within the luxurious folds of his light, for once letting myself be lost to the struggle.  
  
In my mind's eye, he looked at me with concern and asked sofly,_Do you need me?_  
  
My heart constricted for an instant as I selfishly contemplated answering yes, yearning to see if he would indeed come to me, leave Ryo's side for me, his once most hated adversary.  
  
Instead, I shook my head, knowing that his regard was enough, was in fact more than I had expected of him.  
  
His presence rushed me. Had we been communicating in the physical realm I would have sworn that he was grasping my hands.  
  
He was calling my bullshit. He knew that I needed him, he knew that as completely as he knew his armor.  
  
Looking up at me, in this status of abstraction, with his violet eyes burning into mine he said,_You need but to ask..._  
  
Of a sudden, he was gone, snapped out of our dreamstate into reality. I blinked several times as I reoriented myself to my surroundings.  
  
I looked to where he was physically standing, Ryo at his elbow, staring at Seiji with a furrowed brow.  
  
Seiji had a hand to his forehead, where his kanji had glowed and was assuring Ryo that everything was fine.  
  
I could only watch as they left, wondering what exactly had transpired between us.  
  
I dwelled on that encounter many times and would be lying if I said the memory didn't leave a smile on my lips.  
  
But this night, I was not the one in need. Something had deeply upset Seiji and I could not stand to see him in pain.  
  
If I was so inclined I could locate him through our link, travel through the darkness and materialize in his very bedroom if that's where he should be within an inch of shadow.  
  
Though I might like to try that sometime, I knew that such an invasion would only upset him further.  
  
I would come to him as he had come to me, though I was uncertain how much comfort I could offer him. Yami tended to be cold and dispassionate, more like a hurricane than a breeze, smiting all and sparing none.  
  
I closed my eyes and gently probed along our armor link. His aura was dull, not any less intense, but not as bright as if dimmed by his emotion. The darkness around him was like an infection, and I was suddenly unsure if my presence would help or hurt him further.  
  
It occured to me how gutless I was behaving. My own cowardice sickened me.  
  
How could I forget that I am the Masho of Darkness? I have unfathomable power at my control and can use it to do whatever I desire, to hurt or to protect those who have fallen into darkness.  
  
I came upon Seiji swiftly in the dreamstate, but gently, not because I was afraid of my power, but because I was master of it and could make it bend any way I wished.  
  
He was surprised, resisting at first, perhaps wary that I might deride him in his misery, but in the end relented to my dark embrace. I wrapped myself around him, trying to soothe his ache, streaming the burdens of my treacherous heart into him before I could stop it.  
  
Seiji did not recoil, but instead leaned into me, placing his trust within my grasp. A jolt of exceptional intensity tore through me, as if Seiji and I had dovetailed together, interconnecting, for a fleeting instant complete.  
  
Stepping back from me, he breathed hard, and I was somehow just as breathless as he.  
  
Our ever complex relationship just managed to become more complicated and mystifying. If I lived another hundred years, I don't expect I should ever fully understand how our armors relate.  
  
Seiji was calm now, and I was prickling with pride knowing that I had eased his pain. I felt his gratitude, and his genuine smile break upon me in this spiritual realm.  
  
My heart filled with satifaction as I whispered to him,_You need never ask for I will always come to you.  
  
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Author's notes:  
  
This is an I'm so sorry, please forgive me story to anyone who is still reading my YST fiction.  
  
I will continue with To Have and Have Not very soon, within the month even! I have a new web site, please take a look:  
  
http : thedragonflysleeps [dot] 250free [dot] com  
  
If this address disapprears, it's on my bio page above.  
  
Please read and review! E-mail is fabulous too:  
  
Li [underscore] bell [underscore] ule [at] yahoo [dot] com  
  
Again, see bio above for link to e-mail. I would check my webjournal for updates too.  
  
Thanks everyone!_  
  
_


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